The two are currently embroiled in 50 separate litigations across 10 countries and both stand to lose billions of dollars if unsuccessful. In Britain Samsung applied to the High Court of Justice, Chancery Division, for a declaration that Galaxy tablets were not too similar to Apple's iPad products.
This case eventually ended in a pleasant defeat for Apple after the judge ruling that Samsung's Galaxy tablets were not “cool” enough to be confused with Apple’s iPad. But a recent patent applications, submitted by Apple, published by the US patent office brings an entirely more intriguing and ingenious patent story.
The patent is for a ‘Protective Mechanism for an Electronic Device’, 20130073095, not a new case made of exotic materials, rather it’s;
‘An electronic device including a processor, a sensor in communication with the processor and a protective mechanism. The protective mechanism is in communication with the processor and is configured to selectively alter a center of mass of the electronic device. Additionally, the electronic device also includes an enclosure configured to at least partially enclose the processor and the sensor.’
Taken from the abstract of the patent application. This fundamentally details that Apple have developed a series of protection mechanisms that sense when an electronic device is falling and react in one of a variety of ways, which I shall detail as they are pretty ingenious if not a little far-fetched.
The task of detecting when the phone has entered free fall is fairly simple using an accelerometer or gyroscopic sensor, but the methods of protection are where Apple pushes the bounds of even their ingenuity.
1. 1. In one example, the protective mechanism is configured to alter the device orientation as it is falling. This may allow a less vulnerable portion of the device to impact the surface at the free falls climax.
For example, the protective mechanism may be activated to rotate the device so that it impacts a device on its edge, rather than the screen or other venerable area. Similarly, the protective mechanism may alter the device orientation by altering the angular momentum of the device. Apple propose to achieve this in three different ways;
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a. a. Altering the angular momentum via a rotating or linearly sliding a mass. The mass may rotate or change its position within the mobile device, which alters a center of mass and rotation axis for the device.
b. b. Thrust Mechanism – This uses a canister of compressed air and an activating member, when the activating member is triggered through free fall, it will produce a thrust force in one or multiple directions in order to reorient the device for a safer landing.
c. c. Component ejection- In this scenario an ejecting member would release one of the heavier components, most likely the battery, by an electrical or chemical reaction activating a latch or other member that may exert a positive force on the power source in order to change the rotation but also lightening the overall weight to reduce the risk of device ending damage upon impact.
These all endeavour to change the axis spin of the device enabling it to land on a more protected and durable area or slow the rotation to minimise damage. These designs are creative solutions however do not guarantee the devices safety as they cannot completely control the decent and landing. Apple have this covered and have also applied for safety features that do not rely on changing the trajectory for protection, these are;
a. 1. Retracting buttons within the casing of the device when falling is detected, this would protect buttons and other delicate equipment inside the resilient case of the device.
b. 2. An aerofoil parachute ejected from the device when free fall is detected to slow down decent.
These are both fairly novel ideas however seem they would need a longer decent than from a pocket or off a table to be fully effective. There is final patent applied for which would work when device is plugged into head phones.
It uses the same processor to detect when the device has entered free fall, it then deploys grip members around the headphone jack securing it in place. This would be achieved through retracting rings or electromagnets, stopping the device in mid fall preventing damage through colliding with the ground.
These are all incredibly inspired ideas for the very common problem of dropping a smart phone, laptop or camera, who hasn’t stood with bated breath helpless while watching their device escape to the ground, however I cannot see these solutions being implemented into the next generation of iPhone.
I would love to see some of these technologies employed in cases, especially a small disk containing aerofoil parachute that would be deployed when a phone is hurtling its way to the ground.
Charlie NorthAbout the Guest Author:
Charlie North is an avid Apple fan and is fascinated by the rapid pace of technical innovation in the industry. He currently works for UK based iPhone Repair firm Rotten Apples.